Caption: The stone lion sculpture that adorned the Tayinat citadel gate was uncovered in southeastern Turkey by University of Toronto archaeologists.
Credit: Photo by Jennifer Jackson
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Posted on 08/09/2011 9:22:53 AM PDT by decimon
TORONTO, ON – Archaeologists leading the University of Toronto's Tayinat Archaeological Project in southeastern Turkey have unearthed the remains of a monumental gate complex adorned with stone sculptures, including a magnificently carved lion. The gate complex provided access to the citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 950-725 BCE), and is reminiscent of the citadel gate excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1911 at the royal Hittite city of Carchemish.
The Tayinat find provides valuable new insight into the innovative character and cultural sophistication of the diminutive Iron Age states that emerged in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the great civilized powers of the Bronze Age at the end of second millennium BCE.
"The lion is fully intact, approximately 1.3 metres in height and 1.6 metres in length. It is poised in a seated position, with ears back, claws extended and roaring," says Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archaeology in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP). "A second piece found nearby depicts a human figure flanked by lions, which is an iconic Near Eastern cultural motif known as the Master and Animals. It symbolizes the imposition of civilized order over the chaotic forces of the natural world."
"The presence of lions, or sphinxes, and colossal statues astride the Master and Animals motif in the citadel gateways of the Neo-Hittite royal cities of Iron Age Syro-Anatolia continued a Bronze Age Hittite tradition that accentuated their symbolic role as boundary zones, and the role of the king as the divinely appointed guardian, or gatekeeper, of the community," says Harrison. The elaborately decorated gateways served as dynastic parades, legitimizing the power of the ruling elite.
The gate complex appears to have been destroyed following the Assyrian conquest of the site in 738 BCE, when the area was paved over and converted into the central courtyard of an Assyrian sacred precinct.
"The stylistic features of the lion closely resemble those of a double-lion column base found in the 1930s in the entrance to one of the temples that formed the Assyrian sacred precinct," says Harrison. "Whether reused or carved during the Assyrian occupation of the site, these later lion figures clearly belonged to a local Neo-Hittite sculptural tradition that predated the arrival of the Assyrians, and were not the product of Assyrian cultural influence as scholars have long assumed."
TAP is an international project, involving researchers from a dozen countries, and more than 20 universities and research institutes. It operates in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkey, and provides research opportunities and training for both graduate and undergraduate students. The project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), and receives support from the University of Toronto.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Timothy P. Harrison Department of Near and Middle Civilizations University of Toronto +90 536-589-2443 416-978-6600 tim.harrison@utoronto.ca
Sean Bettam Communications, Faculty of Arts & Science University of Toronto 416-946-7950 s.bettam@utoronto.ca
Jessica Lewis Communications, Faculty of Arts & Science University of Toronto 416-978-8887 jessica.lewis@utoronto.ca
Credit: Photo by Jennifer Jackson
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Rock of ages ping.
B.C.E. — Uggg, I like to tell the people that put this in that I now call this “Before Christian Era” instead of the B.C. and A.D. they have gone to this Politically Correct Crap. (If you didn’t know that they now say “Before Common Era” which is still the BIRTH OF CHRIST.
Like the Lion pic, excellent article BTW.
That is some nice sculpting work.
Not being PC or an archeologist, I still use BC and AD, as do some friends of mine, but they're loggers and insist that BC and AD stand for "Before Diesel" and "After Chainsaw".
BTT
I agree BCE and ACE or whatever is leftist BS and going back to BC WILL SAVE INK and TREES! WOW, are they ever conflicted. First BHO pixxing off the country and the world financially, now chopping trees. Where to turn, where to turn? The ignominy of it all.
"but they're loggers and insist that BC and AD stand for "Before Diesel" and "After Chainsaw"."
That would be "Before Chainsaw" and "After Diesel"
Geez.............
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Thanks decimon and Red Badger.. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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The Assyrians were pretty talented too..
That is excellent. Is it 3,000 years old too?
The caption for the photo said: "Stone panel from the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, northern Iraq, neo-Assyrian, 883–859BC." so it's in the neighborhood of 3,000 years.
I find it very interesting to see the level of craftsmanship in ancient art. Even the cave drawings in France, which are far older, show a good hand at draftsmanship IMO.
I agree. It's hard to believe this was painted in a dark cave 17,000 years ago:
I'll give you $10 for the rock, $10k for the Trebuchet that throws it
That’s fantastic! That’s better than I remember it. There is a tremendous feeling of motion and power in that. I don’t know what kind of man lived 17k years ago, and crawled on his belly way down into that cave to paint, but he had what I would call real artistic talent on a par with good artists of any age. Thanks.
Bump for the 3000-year-old lion sculpture. Beautiful piece.
awesome
Note: this topic is from . Thanks decimon.
One of *those* topics.
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